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Should I stop pumping at work?

My son is 16 months old and is in daycare 6 hours a day 5 days a week. He is still an avid nurser when we are together, but in daycare does not drink any of my milk. He has never liked it from a cup or bottle and now seems to prefer water when away from me (when he sees me again, he nurses for 30-40 minutes straight to make up for it!). Should I still pump once at work? If I do, will my supply go down? I do not want to stop nursing and neither does he, so I will keep pumping if necessary. However, part of me would love to stop if I could b/c it's a PITA. Advice appreciated!

Re: Should I stop pumping at work?

Many of us "pump-wean" around a year and continue to nurse our children when we are together. Agreed, you don't need to worry about milk subs if you are still nursing four times a day, but you could offer your child cow's milk if he likes it. Personally, I love nursing, but pumping? Not so much. Pump-weaning was AWESOME!

By sixteen months, your supply should be flexible enough to go without pumping but still make plenty of milk for your baby when you are together. For me, I've found as time goes on, my breasts just seem to make milk when Joe is nursing, and not at other times. It's truly supply and demand now. It takes me a long time (a very long time) to feel "full" but as soon as Joe latches on, he's gulping away, so it's there.

So, just my humble opinion, but I say go for it, mama! The water's warm in here!

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

Re: Should I stop pumping at work?

I'm kind of excited about this, but scared too. I went though a LOT to get to 16 months still nursing with no supplementing, and I'm worried if I stop, my supply will tank. I don't want anything to jeopardize our nursing relationship! But once I'm sure it will be OK, I will probably stop sometime soon.